Architecture

Wilderstein Opens for the Summer

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Overlooking the Hudson River in Rhinebeck, Wilderstein Historic Site is an exquisite Queen Anne mansion and Calvert Vaux designed landscape, widely regarded as the Hudson Valley’s most important example of Victorian architecture.

Visitors to Wilderstein learn about the history of the estate and its inhabitants, explore the grounds and walking trails, and experience the mansion’s unique architecture and lavish 1888 interiors.

Tours are available May &#8211 October, Thursday &#8211 Sunday, from noon &#8211 4 PM. Group Tours are welcome by reservation during and outside regular tour hours.

Visit Wilderstein’s website for heir calendar of events, and find them on Facebook.

Historic Preservation Code Green Workshops

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The Preservation League of New York State and The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) are presenting around the state a series of a two-day CODE GREEN workshop designed for contractors, architects and other building professionals.

The workshops focus on energy conservation issues of interest to those who work in older buildings, but who do not specialize in historic preservation or historic structures.

For example, a contractor hired to insulate a 1920s residence or an architect who wants to understand the application of air sealants for a mixed-use building rehabilitation would come away with information that would help them better serve their clients. Participants will receive technical information on the Energy Conservation Construction Code of New York State &#8211 2010 and its applications for historic buildings in both classroom and field presentations.

The first workshop will take place Monday, May 16 and Tuesday, May 17, 2011, 8am-4pm each day. Day one will take place at Schenectady County Community College, Stockade Room 101 (78 Washington Avenue, Schenectady)- day two includes a field session (1:00 to 4:00 p.m.), at the Schenectady County Historical Society, 32 Washington Avenue.

Registration costs $75 for 2 days, lunch included. Continuing Education credits are available for Architects: 6 LUs/HSW for each full-day of the two-day workshop, totaling 12 LUs/HSW for the two days. AIA members will also receive SD credits.

This is the first of a series of CODE GREEN workshops the League will present across New York State in the summer of 2011. Information on additional workshops is available on the League’s website.

Additioanl workshops will be held in Syracuse (June 16 and 17). Plattsburgh (June 23 and 24), Buffalo (July 14 and 15), Hempstead (August 4 and 5), and Elmira (August 18 and 19).

Heritage Organization Announces Scholarships

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Historic Huguenot Street, the museum and National Historic Landmark District in New Paltz, New York, announced today the availability of scholarships for the 2011-2012 academic year.

The Hudson Valley organization administers four scholarship funds in collaboration with the Hasbrouck Family Association. Brothers Abraham and Jean Hasbrouck were among the Huguenot founders of New Paltz.

To be eligible, a student must be a sophomore, junior or senior in good academic standing as of September 2011. Applicants must be of documented Huguenot descent or be working toward a degree in historic preservation, art history or architecture at Columbia University, the State University of New York at New Paltz or Hamilton College in Clinton, New York. Some funding may also be available for either graduate or undergraduate students studying the impact of American Huguenot immigrants and descendants on American culture and/or language, or on the history of Ulster County, New York, during the period 1600 to 1800.

The Huguenots that founded New Paltz were part of the Huguenot Diaspora, a movement that forced French Protestants out of their homeland to settle in America and throughout the globe. Of prior recipients that were Huguenot descendants, many descended from Huguenots that founded New Paltz. Others have been descendants of Huguenots whose ancestors immigrated to places as far away as South Africa.

Awards are generally between $1,000 and $2,000. Applications must be received by August 31st. For more information about scholarships at Historic Huguenot Street, visit www.huguenotstreet.org and click on “learn” or call (845) 255-1660.

Walking Guide Features Sackets Harbor History

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With sponsorship from Watertown Savings Bank, the Sackets Harbor Historical Society has published an updated edition of its Harbor Walk: A Guide to the History & Architecture of Sackets Harbor, NY. The book is available from the Sackets Harbor Historical Society and at several venues in the village that was a shipbuilding center during the War of 1812.

The 44-page illustrated guide celebrates the historic architecture as seen at homes, businesses and buildings in the waterfront village, at Madison Barracks, and on a 17-point Town of Hounsfield Driving Tour in western Jefferson County, NY.


Sackets Harbor Historical Society President Jan Maas says, “This guidebook interprets more than 200 years of our cultural, economic and military history by showcasing the architectural quality of our built environment and serves the Historical Society mission to educate the public about the unique heritage of our community.”

The book’s front cover features the Sackets Harbor Bank Building at the corner of West Main and Broad Streets. Watertown Savings Bank operates a branch in the building that dates to c.1836 and includes the Sackets Harbor Historical Society. The Sackets Harbor Bank housed here in 1836 was the county’s second bank.

The book’s back cover highlights the Union Hotel, at West Main and Ray Streets, now owned by the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation and housing the Great Lakes Seaway Trail Discovery Center. Frederick White, reputedly the wealthiest man in Jefferson County, built the hotel in 1817-18 to take advantage of the post-War of 1812 hotel trade. The guidebook notes that the building’s “well-preserved interiors are counted among the finest of any Federal-era public buildings in New York State.”

The guide includes a short history of Sackets Harbor, a guide to 13 architectural styles, a glossary of architectural terms, and a bibliography.

The original text was prepared by Michael D. Sullivan and updated by Sackets Harbor Historical Society President Jan Maas. Local historians Bob and Jeannie Brennan, Sackets Harbor State Historic Battlefield Manager Connie Barone, the staff at the Pickering-Beach Historical Museum, Flower Memorial Library and Olin Library at Cornell University contributed to the Harbor Walk guide’s development. Sackets Harbor artist Lawrence Barone provided the new cover design and updated several maps.

The Northern New York Community Foundation and the Heritage Area Program of the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation provided funding for the first edition of the guide. Sackets Harbor is a New York State Heritage Area Community.

Sales benefit the Historical Society’s interpretive projects. Call 315-646-1708 for more information.

39 Sites Recommended for State, National Registers

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The New York State Board for Historic Preservation recommended the addition of 39 properties to the State and National Registers of Historic Places, including the nation’s first fish hatchery, the neighborhood that grew up near the Brooklyn Naval Yard, and a roadside souvenir stand modeled after a tepee.

Listing these properties on the State and National Registers can assist their owners in revitalizing the structures, making them eligible for various public preservation programs and services, such as matching state grants and state and federal historic rehabilitation tax credits.


The State and National Registers are the official lists of buildings, structures, districts, landscapes, objects and sites significant in the history, architecture, archeology and culture of New York State and the nation. There are 90,000 historic buildings, structures and sites throughout the state listed on the National Register of Historic Places, individually or as components of historic districts. Property owners, municipalities and organizations from communities throughout the state sponsored the nominations.

Once the recommendations are approved by the state historic preservation officer, the properties are listed on the New York State Register of Historic Places and then nominated to the National Register of Historic Places, where they are reviewed and, once approved, entered on the National Register.

STATE REVIEW BOARD RECOMMENDATIONS

Albany County

Potter Hollow District #19 School, Potter Hollow – constructed in 1853 in response to the educational reform movements of the mid-nineteenth century, the rural vernacular one-room schoolhouse retains an exceptionally high degree of architectural integrity.

University Club, Albany – the front portion of the Colonial Revival structure, designed by prominent Albany architect Robert Fuller, was built in 1924-25 for the club established earlier in the century to &#8220promote social discourse among its members and to cultivate and maintain university spirit in Albany.&#8221

Bronx County

Dollar Savings Bank, Bronx – today the Bronx Temple Seventh Day Adventist Church, the 1919 bank is a distinguished example of Classical Revival design that reflects the commercial history of one of the most important banking institutions in the Bronx.

Broome County

Harlow E. Bundy House, Binghamton – the Queen Anne-style home was built in 1893 by Harlow Bundy, a founder of the Bundy Manufacturing Company, a leading producer of mechanical time clocks, which was the precursor of IBM.

Chemung County

Riverside Cemetery, Lowman – one of the earliest surviving cemeteries in Chemung County, it is the final resting place of many of the area’s earliest settlers, including several veterans of the American Revolution and the War of 1812, most of whose homes and farms have vanished.

Clinton County
Heyworth-Mason Industrial Building, Peru – the 1836 structure is an example of an early stone industrial building that housed A. Mason and Sons Lumber Company, a firm that operated for 90 years and greatly impacted the building industry in Clinton and Essex Counties.

Cortland County

William J. Greenman House, Cortland – the 1896 Queen Anne-style house is based on a design of George Franklin Barber, an early and successful proponent of &#8220house by mail&#8221 plans, for local manufacturer William Greenman.

Delaware County

Schoolhouse No. 5, Hamden – a mid-19th century rural one-room schoolhouse built in the winter of 1857-1858, sometimes known as Upper Dunk Hill School, which includes a schoolyard defined by a stone wall and mature trees planted by students to mark Arbor Day.

Erie County

Buffalo Seminary, Buffalo – an excellent example of the Collegiate Gothic-style, the 1909 building houses a significant educational institution which has served the Buffalo community for over 150 years and has produced numerous graduates who have made significant contributions to Buffalo and the nation.

University Park Historic District, Buffalo – a remarkably intact example of an early-20th century planned residential subdivision, reflecting the importance of the streetcar and the rise of automobile use in determining the city’s expansion.

Twentieth Century Club, Buffalo – built in 1896, the elegant Classical Revival clubhouse reflects the growth of the national women’s club movement and the increased influence of women generally in American life.

Engine House #2 and Hook & Ladder #9, Buffalo – originally constructed in 1875 to serve the needs of the rapidly growing city and its Allentown neighborhood, the Second Empire-style firehouse was expanded in 1896 to provide additional space for the Hook & Ladder #9.

Essex County

Crandall Marine Railway, Ticonderoga – the rare and remarkably intact 1927 railway dry dock facility was, and still is, used by the Lake George Steamboat Company to haul its excursion boats in and out of Lake George for maintenance and storage.

Fulton County

Hotel Broadalbin, Broadalbin – originally built in 1854 as a specialty store selling gloves manufactured at the local Northrup & Richards glove factory, it was greatly enlarged in 1881 for use as a hotel for the growing numbers of tourists visiting the Adirondacks.

Greene County

Oak Hill Cemetery, Oak Hill – the small, 5.6-acre cemetery originated as the burial place of early settlers Lucas and Deborah DeWitt on their family farm in the early 1820s, and evolved quickly into a community cemetery for residents of the hamlet.

Herkimer County

Frankfort Hill District #10 School, Frankfort Hill – constructed in 1846, the vernacular building retains a high degree of architectural integrity and remarkably served as an active public school for 110 years until 1956.

Kings County

Wallabout Historic District, Brooklyn – primarily residential buildings built between 1830 and 1930 – and especially rich in pre-Civil War wood houses – the district developed as Brooklyn’s residential development moved eastward and laborers came to work at the Brooklyn Navy Yard.

Lewis County

Stoddard-O’Connor House, Lowville – built in 1898, the Queen Anne/Colonial Revival-inspired home is adjacent to the commercial heart of Lowville, which was experiencing ample growth during the turn of the last century.

Mary Lyon Fisher Memorial Chapel, Lyonsdale – the late Gothic Revival masonry chapel in Wildwood Cemetery was built in 1921 by the children of Mary Lyon Fisher in honor of their mother, and is an important reminder of the philanthropy of the Lyon family, a preeminent family of the region.

Livingston County

Caledonia Fish Hatchery, Caledonia – the property is nationally historically significant for its association with Seth Green, who established the first fish hatchery in the western hemisphere in 1864, creating what has been acclaimed nationally and internationally as the world’s largest and most productive fish plant in continuous use.

Monroe County
Brockport Central Rural High School, Brockport – completed in 1934, today’s A.D. Oliver School is notable for its distinctive English Tudor Revival design, as well as its interior details, especially the auditorium’s stained-glass windows, which illustrate American historic figures.

Oatka Cemetery, Oak Hill – a late 19th century rural cemetery, which was attached to and merged with an earlie
r burying ground, known as Scottsville Cemetery, and contains markers of the area’s citizens from the early 19th century to the present.

Montgomery County

Van Wie Farmstead, (Valley View Farm) McKinley – the 1873 farmhouse based on Italianate-inspired pattern book architecture and associated farm buildings and acreage tell the story of changes in Mohawk Valley agricultural production, from the earliest 18th century wheat farmers to mechanized dairy production in the mid-20th century.

Nassau County
The Stephen Harding House and Studio, Sea Cliff – built in 1878 by photographer Stephen Harding as one of the original homes during the period when Methodist Camp Meetings were held in Sea Cliff.

Niagara County

Hazard H. Sheldon House, Niagara Falls – the 1857 ‘Italian Villa’ was the home Hazard H. Sheldon, a lawyer who played an important role in the civic affairs of the then-burgeoning Village of Niagara Falls.

Allan Herchell Carousel Factory, North Tonawanda – the existing State and National Register listing is expanded to include 39 Geneva Street, which served as the main office for the Allan Herschell Company from 1915 until 1945, when owner John Wendler developed the Kiddieland amusement park concept

Onondaga County
Huntley Apartments, Syracuse – constructed in 1928, and originally known as the Asaranaba, it reflects a trend in the city that saw the acceptance of apartment living on the part of the middle class in a city previously dominated by the single-family or two-family house.

Otsego County

Gilbertsville Water Works, Gilbertsville – in response to a series of large fires, the village of Gilbertsville was incorporated in 1896 with the specific purpose of establishing the water supply system, which it enlarged in 1914-18, and continues in use today.

The Tepee, Cherry Valley – an example of popular roadside architecture, the Tepee was built in 1954 by Ken and Iris Gurney, natives of Nebraska, where tepees were especially popular, who moved to upstate New York and decided to take advantage of growing automobile traffic along Route 20 to open a souvenir stand.

Rensselaer County

Dickinson Hill Fire Tower, Grafton – erected in 1924 by the New York State Conservation Commission in what is now Grafton Lakes State Park, it was one of more than 100 built after 1908 to identify fires and put them out before causing extensive loss of forest, open land, buildings, and wildlife.

Rockland County

Rockland Road Bridge Historic District, Piermont – the district includes a masonry arch bridge erected in 1874 to span the Sparkill Creek along with several nearby properties portraying various periods in the hamlet’s development.

Gurnee-Sherwood House, Wesley Hills – built in the 1790s and subsequently enlarged around 1830 during its ownership by Reverend James Sherwood, a Methodist clergyman who played a central role in the development of the area.Christ Church, Sparkill – built in 1864, the church remains a largely intact and noteworthy example of Gothic Revival-style religious design.

St. Lawrence County

Young Memorial Church, Brier Hill – built 1907-1908, the church is an intact example of the Shingle style, featuring a two-story square Gothic bell tower and decorative windows of opaque glass and stained glass medallions and portraits made by a local artisan.

Saratoga County

Smith’s Grain and Feed Store, Elnora – constructed in 1892, the store served the local farm community for generations by selling feed, grain, coal, fertilizers and other goods that were transported to the store by the railroad, which unloaded at the store’s own siding.

Steuben County

Cottages at Central Point, Hammondsport – built in the 1880s, the four cottages are a remarkably intact collection of picturesque seasonal vacation houses in the Finger Lakes, reflecting the beginnings of the residential development patterns that have come to dominate the region.

Sullivan County

Forestburgh Town Hall, Forestburgh – unaltered since its construction in 1927, the structure’s specifications exactly match the original town hall that burned to the ground the year before.

Warren County

Fort George, Lake George – archaeological investigations at the French and Indian War site have provided rare insights into New York’s colonial wars and it reflects early and successful public initiatives in land conservation and commemoration.

Wyoming County

Perry Downtown Historic District, Perry – the village district of commercial, civic and mixed use buildings reflects the growth and development of Perry as a regional commercial hub and the center of a booming textile industry from roughly 1830 to 1930.

Great Estates Consortium 7th Conference

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The Great Estates Consortium will be presenting the seventh annual Great Estates Conference &#8212- &#8220Inspiring Individuals: A Legacy of Leadership in the Hudson River Valley&#8221 &#8212- on Saturday, March 19, 2011. Speakers will discuss the life and times of Margaret Beekman Livingston, Frederic Church, and Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt and their roles as inspiring Hudson River Valley personalities.

Optional afternoon tours of the Great Estates &#8212- including a tour of the Historic Colonel Oliver Hazard Payne Mansion in Esopus, New York, home to Marist College’s Raymond A. Rich Institute for Leadership Development &#8212- will highlight areas of the properties that are rarely open to the public.

The program will begin at 8:30 a.m. at the Henry A. Wallace Center at the FDR Presidential Library and Home. Registration is $60 ($10 additional for the Payne Mansion tour). Registration forms are available online.

Morning sessions will include:

&#8220The Old Lady of Clermont&#8221:
Searching for the Truth About Margaret Beekman Livingston
Kjirsten Gustavson, Curator of Education, Clermont State Historic Site

&#8220The Commanding Genius of that Day&#8221:
Hudson River School Painter Frederic Edwin Church
Valerie Balint, Associate Curator, The Olana Partnership

Leaders and Land Owners: The Roosevelts and the Hudson Valley Connection
Jeffrey Urbin, Education Specialist, FDR Presidential Library and Museum

Continental breakfast and a morning coffee break will be served. Lunch will be provided by Gigi Hudson Valley and will feature local food. Laura Pensiero, RD chef/owner, Gigi Hudson Valley, will introduce the lunch and share with the participants how she uses local farm products for her business.

Following lunch, participants can choose to attend &#8220behind the scenes&#8221 tours at participating historic sites, including the Historic Colonel Oliver Hazard Payne Mansion, home to Marist College’s Raymond A. Rich Institute for Leadership Development. Attendees may also take a special tour of Locust Grove’s third floor, or the servant areas at Staatsburgh or the Vanderbilt Mansion. This conference will once again coincide with the Hudson Valley Restaurant Week, and participating &#8220behind the scenes&#8221 tours sites will partner with nearby restaurateurs to present a small treat at the end of the tour.

Brooklyn Museum Great Hall Renovation Complete

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The Brooklyn Museum has completed an extensive renovation of its historic Great Hall at the center of its ground floor and has reclaimed additional space for a new gallery. This project, which is the initial phase of a major redesign of the first floor, marks the most transformative change to the floor since that portion of the Museum was constructed in the early twentieth century. The renovated space has been redesigned by the award-winning studio Ennead Architects, formerly known as Polshek Partnership. Ennead has been the architectural firm responsible for the transformation of the Museum over the past twenty-five years.

According to Arnold L. Lehman, Museum Director, &#8220This major rethinking of the nineteenth-century McKim, Mead & White architecture will completely alter and enhance the experience of every visitor in a way that makes for a more exciting and logical introduction to the Museum. Because only one-sixth of the original design for the building was completed, circulation on the first floor has always presented a navigational challenge for our visitors. Through this exciting and engaging new design by Ennead Architects, these issues have been resolved in a manner that will completely transform the visitor experience.&#8221

The initial phase of renovation features the expansive, two-story-high colonnaded space with its original coffered glass-block ceiling. For many years, this room served to display the Museum’s holdings of pre-Columbian, Native American, and Oceanic art. Now to be known as the Great Hall, it is a rare example in New York City of a hypostyle hall, with a dense grid of columns. Designed to form the core of a series of galleries, the space now features four monumental freestanding walls, which define a central gallery. The renovation has also created a new South Gallery, restoring to public use an area previously used for back-of-house functions.

&#8220The goal in this first phase of renovation has been to create a grand central gallery that gives focus to this tremendous space,&#8221 states Susan T. Rodriquez, a partner of Ennead Architects who led the design effort for the transformation. &#8220The entire project, when completed, will provide a more porous, transparent, and accessible experience. It reimagines the Great Hall as layers of galleries surrounding the central space and provides a dramatic visitor sequence that will showcase the Museum’s collections.&#8221

The new freestanding walls allow for the display of art while concealing climate-control systems within. Their crisp, diagonal edges facilitate and reinforce movement from the Lobby into the Great Hall. The central gallery features a new terrazzo floor. The entire gallery volume has been technically upgraded to become a state-of-the-art museum environment, complete with new sprinkler and lighting systems.

The lighting, designed by the Renfro Design Group, features a flexible track system integrated into the historic coffered ceiling, with LED lighting in the central bay. Natural light filters down to the Great Hall through McKim, Mead & White’s glass-block ceiling, which forms the floor of the Beaux-Arts Court. A new glass floor was introduced over the existing glass-block floor in the Court renovation by Ennead Architects in 2009. The Gilbane Building Company was the construction manager for that project.

Funding has been provided by the City of New York, the State of New York, and the Brooklyn Museum.

The renovated space will be inaugurated on March 4 with a site-specific architectural installation, reOrder: An Architectural Environment by Situ Studio, which will engage the existing monumental columns with a series of suspended fabric canopies and furniture that relate to the details of the McKim, Mead & White structure. It will be on view through January 15, 2012, after which the space will become an introductory gallery to the entire permanent collection.

The first exhibition to be presented in the new South Gallery will be Thinking Big: Recent Design Acquisitions, also opening on March 4 and on view through May 29, 2011, after which it will be given over to a new installation of selections from the Museum’s holdings of African Art. Current plans for additional enhancements to the Hall and the first floor are anticipated to begin in the fall of 2011 and be completed in 2013.

The next phase of the first-floor transformation will include a Museum Cafe, a bar, and an outdoor dining terrace located directly off the lobby. The design will include the Williamsburg murals, on long-term loan from the New York City Housing Authority. The cafe will feature a formal dining room that can be used for special functions and a casual dining area overlooking the Steinberg Family Sculpture Garden. There will be direct access to the dining areas from adjacent parking.

The Museum Shop will be relocated to the area currently occupied by the Robert E. Blum Gallery near the main lobby. The new shop will be redesigned by Visbeen Associates, Inc., an award-winning architectural firm based in Grand Rapids, Michigan, whose projects include several of the Metropolitan Museum of Art satellite stores, as well as the Peabody Essex Museum shop. Important new features to enhance the visitor’s experience will be a wider entrance that will open onto the Grand Lobby, providing greater visual access to the galleries in the Great Hall and assisting with circulation patterns, as well as a new signage system.

The space that has been occupied for decades by the Museum Cafe, as well as offices and art-storage areas, will be reclaimed as a special exhibition gallery, which will replace the existing Robert E. Blum Gallery. The final phase of the first-floor transformation will include the renovation of gallery space currently occupied by the African galleries, which will be deinstalled on June 26, 2011, and will reopen in the South Gallery on August 12, 2011.

At the completion of the renovation of the first floor, all gallery space will be climate controlled, and non-exhibition spaces will be air-conditioned.

The Brooklyn Museum, as designed by McKim, Mead & White in the late nineteenth century, was built in many stages, and only one-sixth of the original design was completed. It has undergone several subsequent changes. In 1897 the West Wing (now known as the Morris A. and Meyer Schapiro Wing) was completed. Construction continued through the early twentieth century, and the large first-floor hall that housed the Museum’s non-European art collections opened in 1925, serving as the focal point of a series of galleries dedicated to various cultures of the world. Until the staircase in front of the Museum was removed in 1934, a large portion of the first floor contained an auditorium. Another major change took place in 1965, when four massive case structures were constructed and the space, showcasing North Central and South American collections, was renamed the Hall of the Americas (now to be called the Great Hall). The addition of the glass Rubin Pavilion on Eastern Parkway in 2004 reenergized visitor circulation on the first floor.

The current first-floor renovation continues a major redesign of the Museum’s ground level that began in 2004 with the opening of the Rubin Pavilion, the Ennead-designed, critically acclaimed front entrance, as well as the renovated lobby, redesigned front plaza, new South Entrance, and expanded parking facilities. It continues a Master Plan created in 1986 by the partnership of Polshek Partnership (now Ennead architects) and Arata Isozaki & Associates to improve and expand the Museum building, with a strong emphasis on making all gallery spaces climate controlled. Subsequently, they affected
a number of significant changes to the building, including the 1993 renovation of the entire Schapiro Wing, as well as the creation of the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Auditorium and new art-storage facilities in the early 1990s. Ennead also designed the Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art, which opened in 2007. The recently completed Service Extension building for the reception and processing of art and the complete renovation of the entire basement for staff and support spaces were both designed by Ewing Cole.

Image: Rendering Courtesy Ennead Architects.

Adk Museum Acquires Architecure Collection

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The library of the Adirondack Museum at Blue Mountain Lake, New York has acquired the archives of a major Adirondack architectural firm that include what museum officials are calling &#8220the most important collection of historic architectural records in the Adirondack Park.&#8221

The Saranac Lake firm began as William L. Coulter, Architect and ended more than a century of notable work as Wareham, DeLair Architects (WDA). Principals in the firm over time included Coulter- his partner, Max H. Westhoff who practiced solo after Coulter’s death- William G. Distin, Coulter’s protege and Westhoff’s partner- Arthur Wareham, Distin’s partner- and Ronald H. Delair, partner since 1970.

The Adirondack Museum received the materials as a donation from Ronald DeLair, the firm’s final principal. According to museum librarian Jerry Pepper, the process to receive the collection began in the late 1970s. Official transfer of custody was completed in the late summer, 2010.

Pepper notes that DeLair took extraordinary care of the collection over time, and that the extensive material is very well organized. The collection is diverse as well as wide-ranging. The index alone is comprised of forty single-spaced pages.

Including thousands of architectural drawings and renderings for camps, residences, businesses, sanitarium, Olympic facilities, municipal buildings and churches, a certificate signed by President Theodore Roosevelt, as well as forty boxes of records and three-dimensional models, the collection documents some of the region’s most important architects.

Coulter was the first resident architect to establish a practice in the Adirondacks. Distin was a pioneer of the Adirondack style of architecture. A sample of his classic designs include “Camp Mossrock” on Upper Saranac Lake, “Camp Wonundra” built for William Rockefeller in 1934, and Eagle Nest, designed for Walter Hochschild in 1938.

Westhoff was a member of the original class at Pratt Institute and introduced a Swiss motif into the firm’s repertoire. Wareham completed design work for the Trudeau Institute and worked on numbers of libraries and municipal buildings. DeLair designed fewer camps than his predecessors, concentrating on public projects.

Wareham DeLair Architects, which celebrated it centennial in 1997, is the fifth oldest firm in continuous practice in New York State.

In addition to capturing the wide spectrum of regional architecture, the collection also illustrates changing tastes and building technology over time, and provides a unique and invaluable insight into the history of the Adirondacks.

Jerry Pepper says that the DeLair material builds on the Adirondack Museum’s already significant collections of architectural records that include drawings by William West Durant, Grosvenor Atterbury, Augustus Shepard, and John Burnham.

Photo: Trudeau Foundation Research Laboratory, Saranac Lake, NY. Distin and Wareham Architects, 1964. Collection of the Adirondack Museum.

Preservation League, NYSERDA Plan Workshops for 2011

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The Preservation League of New York State recently entered into a partnership with the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) to provide workshops throughout New York State that will address code compliance and energy conservation in existing and historic structures.

The League will offer a series of workshops in 2011, held regionally throughout New York State, specifically targeting the merging of historic preservation principles and practice with the requirements of the 2010 NYS Energy Conservation Construction Code.

&#8220The technology for enhancing the energy efficiency of historic buildings is improving all the time,&#8221 said Jay DiLorenzo, President of the Preservation League. &#8220The choices property owners make today can extend the useful life of their buildings and pay dividends for owners and residents both now and in the future.&#8221

Additional information and a schedule of workshops will be made available on the League’s website at www.preservenys.org later in 2011.

New York State Historic Preservation Awards Announced for 2010

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The New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation has announced the recipients of the 2010 New York State Historic Preservation Awards. Established in 1980, the State Historic Preservation Awards are given each year to honor excellence in the protection and rejuvenation of New York’s historic and cultural resources.

&#8220The Historic Preservation Awards honor the efforts and achievement of individuals, organizations and municipalities that make significant contributions to historic preservation objectives throughout New York State,&#8221 said Ruth Pierpont, Acting Deputy Commissioner for Historic Preservation. &#8220The range of awards this year reflects the many ways that historic preservation serves as an important tool for economic development, creating affordable housing, and providing an effective approach to sustainable building design while preserving the unique character and heritage of our communities.&#8221

The awards follow:

OUTSTANDING NATIONAL REGISTER NOMINATION:

New York City’s Chinatown and Little Italy Historic District

Presented to: Two Bridges Neighborhood Council (Victor Papa, president and director) and architectural consultant Kerri Culhane, for a project that illuminates the common heritage and shared future of New York

New York City’s Chinatown and Little Italy Historic District was listed on the State and National Registers of Historic Places in February 2010 as being nationally significant in the history of immigration. The project’s success was due to the inspired leadership of the sponsor, the Two Bridges Neighborhood Council- exemplary scholarship of their consultant – architectural historian Kerri Culhane- and the support of Chinese-American and Italian-American organizations. Key to the process was educating the public about the significance of two ethnic groups whose 150 years of interwoven immigrant experiences had been previously overlooked. This nomination has proven to be a catalyst for a planning process aimed at enhancing economic development opportunities while respecting the important history of these neighborhoods.

PROJECT ACHIEVEMENT:

The Montour House, Village of Montour Falls, Schuyler County, 1850

For Outstanding Adaptive Use and Commitment to Community Revitalization

Presented to: Bruce Nelson, Nelson Development, Village of Montour Falls and Schuyler County Partners for Economic Development

Set in motion by a Restore New York grant and assistance from the Schuyler County Partners for Economic Development (SCOPED), the Village of Montour Falls hired developer Bruce Nelson to bring the 1850 Montour House back to life. Nelson, of Nelson Development in Vestal, worked closely with SHPO staff to determine the best approach to adapting the former hotel for apartments and commercial spaces while adhering to historic preservation standards. Over 20 years of neglect had caused severe water damage and other deterioration, and the village was in danger of losing the central landmark. A mason employed on the job for 18 months and a millwright who restored 118 historic wood windows were joined by other team members who restored and replaced decorative plaster elements. The project fulfilled the Village’s goals of attracting new and long-time residents as tenants, and helped inspired other local rehabilitation projects.

PROJECT ACHIEVEMENT:

257 Lafayette Center (The Former Annunciation School), Buffalo, 1928

For Outstanding Adaptive Use and Commitment to Community Revitalization

Presented to: Karl Frizlen, The Frizlen Group Architects and Paul Johnson, Johnson and Sons Contractors

After having served as an integral part of the community for over 80 years, the school closed and the building stood vacant for several years. Karl Frizlen, of The Frizlen Group Architects, and Paul Johnson, of Johnson & Sons General Contractor, recognized that the well-designed school would be ideal for an adaptive, mixed-used development that would incorporate green building design and historic preservation. The partners attracted tenants for the commercial portion of the building before beginning the project, including a day-care center and several firms for the incubator offices. In converting former school rooms, the work exhibits a high degree of creativity in reusing historic elements in place, such as pivoting blackboards, or recycling materials for new uses in the building. The project is an outstanding example of how historic tax credits can be used for a mid-sized rehabilitation project. Having obtained LEED certification, the project demonstrates that historic preservation and sustainable design are mutually supportive approaches to development.

PROJECT ACHIEVEMENT:

44 West 87th Street, New York City, 1910

For Outstanding Adaptive Use and Commitment to Community Revitalization

Presented to: The West Side Federation for Senior and Supportive Housing, Inc. and Red Top Architects

In adapting the 1910 townhouse at 44 West 87th Street in New York City for senior and transitional housing and program services, the West Side Federation for Senior and Supportive Housing, Inc. and Red Top Architects needed to upgrade the building to meet accessibility requirements- provide affordable rental units and smaller, transitional housing units- and also insert meeting and office space. Project partners worked through a highly collaborative process to solve design challenges. Preservation tax credits helped make the difference in the remarkable quality of workmanship and historic character preserved by the adaptive use project on a tight budget.

PROJECT ACHIEVEMENT:

P. S. 124, High School of Telecommunication Arts & Technology, Brooklyn, 1917

For an Outstanding Rehabilitation Project and Commitment to Community Revitalization

Presented to: New York City School Construction Authority and STV Group, Inc.

In planning a new wing for the overcrowded school building, the School Construction Authority staff and STV Group architects had to design a structure that would fit on the limited land available, would be compatible with the materials, massing and scale of the existing building and that would also meet with the approval of both SHPO and the community. The end result included a well-designed new wing and restoration of the school’s original auditorium, portions of which had previously been converted to classroom space. In returning the auditorium to its former grandeur, the team recreated missing decorative elements and restored stained glass windows.

PROJECT ACHIEVEMENT:

Dunderberg Creek Walls and NY Route 51 Stone Arch Bridge over Dunderberg Creek, Village of Gilbertsville, Otsego County

For an Outstanding Rehabilitation Project and Commitment to Community Revitalization

Presented to: Village of Gilbertsville and New York State Department of Transportation, Region 9

The historic Village of Gilbertsville’s picturesque setting was threatened in June 2006, when storm waters overflowed the Dunderberg Creek banks and came roaring through the village. The historic stone walls lining the creek were washed away, debris carried by the waters destroyed one of the piers supporting the historic Gilbert Building, and the NY Route 51 Bridge was damaged. Village officials, committed to preserving the historic character of the village, worked closely with the NYSDOT to coordinate repairs to the 1919 bridge and creek walls in a manner that retained the historic pattern of the stonework.

INDIVIDUAL ACHIEVEMENT:

Anne H. Van Ingen, former director of the Architecture, Planning and Design and Capital Program of the New York State Council on the Arts.

Recently-retired as director of the Ar
chitecture, Planning and Design (APD) and Capital Aid Programs at the New York State Council on the Arts, Anne Van Ingen was recognized for her extraordinary leadership in and commitment and contributions to the field of historic preservation, both as a public servant and a private citizen.

For 27 years, she served as NYSCA’s representative on the New York State Board for Historic Preservation, reviewing and approving nominations to the State and National Registers for Historic Places. Her focus as APD director was on what quality planning and design work – including historic preservation – could do for arts organizations and the communities they serve. She is a founding director of the Deborah J. Norden Fund of the Architectural League, established in memory of a talented NYSCA colleague, the Lower Manhattan Emergency Preservation Fund, and is president of the St. Regis Foundation, a land trust in the Adirondacks.

More recently, she purchased a traditional &#8220shotgun&#8221 house in New Orleans’ Hurricane Katrina-ravaged Ninth Ward and invited friends and family down to help undertake the extensive rehabilitation needed to turn the property into affordable housing.

Recognition for OPRHP Agency Best Practices in Historic Preservation

Taconic Regional Headquarters Adaptive Use Project

The Preservation awards program initiated a new component this year to recognize projects undertaken within the OPRHP agency that demonstrate best practices in historic preservation. Ruth Pierpont, Acting Deputy Commissioner for Historic Preservation explained, &#8220by highlighting high-quality rehabilitation and restoration projects, we hope to encourage similar approaches throughout all state parks.&#8221 The project chosen this year was the adaptive use of the former Staatsburg School for the OPRHP Taconic Regional Headquarters.

The project was initiated with a gift from Dr. Lucy R. Waletsky, chair of the New York State Council of Parks, who stipulated that the project use sustainable, green building practices and become LEED certified. In order to retain the proportions of the 1930 school, the wide corridors were retained and glass walls were inserted in former classrooms to divide the work spaces and allow the distribution of natural light. On the exterior, instead of separating the accessible entrance from the main door, a &#8220universally accessible&#8221 entry was created by redesigning the building site and locating the main entrance at the former rear of the building. This approach also avoided alterations to the stately, historic facade which was restored.

The State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO), which is part of the Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, helps communities identify, recognize, and preserve their historic resources, and incorporate them into local improvement and economic development activities. The SHPO administers several programs including the state and federal historic rehabilitation tax credit program, state historic preservation grants, the Certified Local Government program, and the New York State and National Registers of Historic Places, which are the official lists of properties significant in the history, architecture, and archeology of the state and nation.

The New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation oversees 178 state parks and 35 historic sites.. For more information on any of these recreation areas, call 518-474-0456 or visit www.nysparks.com.